well, a couple weeks ago we took a trip down to wayne national forest in southern ohio, one of my favorite places to ride, and i let my buddy borrow my 400, which my bro rides, but he broke his foot when the 650 ran it over lol. anyway, i thought no prob as my buddy has a cbr 600 f4, and hes a pretty cautious guy overall. well 10 min into the ride, he rolls it forward, breaks some stuff, we fix on the trail, still runs so we continue, but by the end of the day he flips it three more times. one more that i saw, and the first thing that came to my mind was "you gotta be sh*&&en me." he was already just bruised up and sore. but the repair bill is comin to 400 bucks, not including labor (we repair everything) or the racks that we have to straighten up.

Parts list that were repaired:
speedo+speedo cable
new handlebars
new master cylinder assembly
new grips
new gauge cowl
new steering stem
and some other stuff that i forgot, lol.


i had fixed everything up, mounted on the handlbars, and i sit on it to adjust the tilt on them, and realize that the left hand side sits 1" higher, so thats how i realized the stem was bent, and it was starting to rub on the gas tank, so i had to pull that crap out and pull the stem, never ends... just venting for you guys, DONT LET FRIENDS BORROW QUADS!!!! LOL

 

Sounds like your machine is a candidate for some 1" wheel spacers and some tire and preload tuning. I have rolled mine twice (both going downhill, and both very slow speeds less than 2mph). Has never rolled since I made adjustments to tires and preloads. Icing on the cake was the addition of wheel spacers.

 

Hate to hear about your ATV woes AC4LIFE i know how it feel's when you loan an expensive machine like this to a freind or family member, and then have them trash it like that ; does this freind intend to at least pay for or help out with the cost for the part's to fix it up ? I would hope so but when i got a second quad so i could find someone to ride with me not just/week end's but weekday's also just when ever i had the time and money to ride ! I would let them ride my 93' Suzuki LTF 4WD 300 King Quad , i would ride my old 86 Honda TRX 350 foreman full time 4x4 , i was alway's having to tell them to slow down and not ride so fast over the rocky trail's we rode on all the time ! Luckly for me they never crashed the KQ , i justed made them ride behind me ; and if i lost sight of them i would pull over and wait on them to catch up with me ! That was my way of not letting lag behind me so they could hammer on it ! When it came to servicing them or replacing part's they wouldn't or would say they wound give me some money when they got some; but i never saw a penny ; the onlything they paid for was fuel for their truck and the quad ! I finely got to the conclusion to just sell the old 86' Honda in nov. 2005 to my brother ! And a week after i bought my 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS 4x4 with the Suzuki engine/and belt driven Duramatic tranny i sold the 93' KQ to my brother's wife so they didn't have to ride double all the time ! Both the Honda and the KQ are still running and riding strong , and they love them ; and i love my Cat so what more could a man ask for ! well i guess i wouldn't mind winning the lottery , but you can't win if you don't play ; and i never was a gambler so i'm happy with what i have ! williebee

 

Same here - I kept my old big bear for a while after I bought the 500i, so buddies could ride with me across my farm. Couple of close calls later, I decided that I wasn't going to risk liability and a bashed up machine - my farm is a bit too rough for newbies. Get your own quad if you want to ride. When I was offered a brand new Browning Gold Hunter, Ducks Unlimited Edition for a rather beat up big bear, I took the trade.

Now that I'm looking at the 700 TRV, I'm torn between keeping the faithful 500i or selling it. Prolly keep it. It's an old friend that has never let me down.

 

I know what you mean when you get a good one like that it's hard to part with , and you lose a lot of money if you trade one in on a newer machine at your local dealer's ; that's why i choose to sell both my old Honda and Suzuki on credit to my brother ! I knew he lived on the hill right behind me and i kept the titles untill he payed for them , and i got the same amount as i payed for them when they were new ; but he still got a good deal because i put new brakes on both quad's and a new gas tank for the honda , that set me back to the tune of $289.97 for the gas tank alone on the honda ;plus new brake assemblies on the honda ! And new brake's tie rod's and tire's on the suzuki so they got a good deal , and they can go out and turn the key on hit the starter button and they fire right up ; and both still run and ride as good as they did when they were new !! Only thing is that they look old , but you can't tell how good the quad's or just by looking at them ; i would rather have one that looked old and ran great than the other way around ! williebee

 

how do you adjust the preload of your 4 wheeler.

 

My 2006 Arctic Cat 400 FIS Auto came with special tool to adjust the spring tention , and everybody will tell you the tool was a piece of junk and they were all right ; i got one of the rear springs adjusted with the wrench the other rear was the one that i bent the wrench on ! I think i had to jack the other wheel's off the ground so i could use the channel locks to adjust them and i used an old orange shop rag's to wrap around the coil spring's to keep from scratching the paint off them ! I don't weigh but 135 lbs soaking wet so i set the rear spring's as soft as they would go , and front's were already next to the softest setting's ; so i left them the way they were ! Just use a large pair of channel locks or a small pipe , either one of these tool's will work fine ; just remember to use some old rag or shop towel around the spring's to protect the paint and you'll be fine ! williebee

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: andrewallen

how do you adjust the preload of your 4 wheeler.</end quote></div>

You adjust your preloads (spring tension) with the funny looking wrench shaped like a half-moon with a hook on the end. The adjustments are made at the bottom of your springs.
My wrench bent also, my dealer is also a Yamaha dealer and gave me a replacement I assume it is Yamaha - anyway it is made of steel and has not bent yet, and works fine on the AC... Maybe pick up a steel one for a few bucks.
My preloads are at the softest on the front and second to softest on rear - occasionally for faster running I will up the rear to the middle preload or add a 1-2 lbs of air to the rear. I also run 8 lbs or air in the front and 4-6 lbs in the rear. My front settings always stay the same and I make adjustments for handling on the rear preloads and tire pressures to correct for understeer or oversteer conditions.

 

-i own a landscaping company, and he does work with me, and i have to pay him for a job we did together, so its coming out of that, he said right away to just take it to a dealer and give him the receipt and hed take care of it.

-on my 650 that i only personally ride, i have the fronts on the hardest preload and rear on the second hardest, but when i ride, im blasting down the trails, plus ive been riding for awhile and have gotten used to how the 650 handles compared to the 400. I run 10psi in the stock rawhide mtr's b/c they have REALLY soft sidewalls that would always roll over with how aggressize i ride. the 400 preloads are on 3 i believe, so right in the middle any recommendations?

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: AC4LIFE

-i own a landscaping company, and he does work with me, and i have to pay him for a job we did together, so its coming out of that, he said right away to just take it to a dealer and give him the receipt and hed take care of it.



-on my 650 that i only personally ride, i have the fronts on the hardest preload and rear on the second hardest, but when i ride, im blasting down the trails, plus ive been riding for awhile and have gotten used to how the 650 handles compared to the 400. I run 10psi in the stock rawhide mtr's b/c they have REALLY soft sidewalls that would always roll over with how aggressize i ride. the 400 preloads are on 3 i believe, so right in the middle any recommendations?</end quote></div>

If it works and the handling is there then you are ok. Only comment I have is that if you run the front preloads on the stiffest setting and it handles good (especially with 10lbs of air) then it seems to appear that maybe your front springs are getting weak. Actually with your air and preloads, you would not be blasting down a trail you would be more like on a 'pogo-stick'. Actually I'd say your front and rear springs are about done for. STIFF is loose-light, SOFT is grip-heavy. Too stiff on the front and it would go loose (loose traction) and plow. Stiff on the rear would cause it to go loose and slide - dirt tracking.